Sue's Uganda Blog

Sharing the pain & the joy

2009-11-08T20:57:00.004+03:00

After moving to Lungujja last Saturday we havnt been able to get to the internet but dont imagine that means we have been sitting here enjoying the weather ! Following the loss of Teacher Gorretti we encouraged all the children and teachers to write about their happy memories of her and to draw a picture. The response was overwhelming - a encourmous pile of pictures, comments and thoughts, it was quite inspiring and very moving to see that this delightful young enthusiatic teacher had left such an impression on her young pupils. We spent an evening with the teachers, encouraging them to read what the children had written and to enjoy the things they had said. It started off as a slightly sombre time as they knew they were thinking about their departed collegue but ended up as an evening of fun and laughter as they shared the childrens stories and added many of their own. It was a real case of "tears at night but joy coming in the morning". It was a privilige to share with them and also to be allowed to share in their heartache and sadness about other losses they had suffered. We ended the evening thinking about the passage from Romans 8 where it says "in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." amazing to realise that He knows everything that we are going through, the pain of loss, the despair, the turmoil of feelings and this was such a powerful reminder that in whatever circumstances we are and even in the face of death and the desparate sadness of the situation, nothing, absolutely nothing can separate us from the love of God.....

Update

2009-10-31T15:43:00.002+03:00

woo - whilst the computer is on I will do a quick update. . .

Sadly teacher Goretti died on Monday night. The burial was on Tuesday and 200 people from Lungujja travelled to the ceremony. We visited on Weds to give our condolances - so sad, everyone is mourning her loss. We plan to go to stay with them at the weekend and hopefully to help them to create a Memory Bench for her.

We have kept ourselves busy visiting both Nansana Royal Primary School and the Child Care Centre in Kakiri. At Kakiri we have funded some books and a stove. They have very few books until now but with a grant from The Kabanda Trust they have been able to stock a small library. I t was great to see the enormous stove they have installed - big enough to feed 825 children and a new kitchen around it - brilliant.
At NRPS we held a health workshop for the teachers and then took two classes - Gordon's model of a mosquito made out of an empty water bottle went down very well as an illustration. Next week we will hold a Health Seminar for the parents so that will be fun! We have ordered 100 mosquito nets to arrive on Monday which will be used in the boarding houses and for families.

PSteve is just arriving to collect us so will be back in a few days :)

Metaphoric weather

2009-10-26T18:10:00.003+03:00

We have been having a difficult few days with a number of challenges that have left us feeling quite despondent. Sunday came. A grey morning which turned into the most almighty storm, with thunder and lightening through which we made our way to KPC a church held in a former cinema. It was as though the rain was a metaphor for how we felt as we arrived along with 2000 other people and joined the 3rd of 4 services held yesterday morning. After some VERY VERY LOUD praise & worship the speaker a pastor from London (rather ironic we thought)spent 45 mins expounding the first verse of Ps 46 - God is our refuge and strength an ever-present help in trouble. Dealing with frustration being the subject, twas brilliant,it was just what we needed and spoke right into our situation and as we left the building the sun shone brightly!
So there you go, there is always sunshine after the rain and the storms that trouble us although they are threatening and loud pass over.

In hot and sunny Uganda

2009-10-23T10:50:00.006+03:00

If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That's to prevent anyone from confusing God's incomparable power with us. As it is, there's not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we're not much to look at. We've been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we're not demoralized; we're not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we've been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn't left our side; we've been thrown down, but we haven't broken. (2 Cor 4 v 8-10 The Message)

It wonderful to be here again, the warmth after the cold spell at home and the everlasting sunshine really inspire! As I arrived at Rock of Joy in the early evening the 40 boarders were all outside singing Welcome Sue, welcome Mama Lizzie . . . it was lovely and so exciting to see them all.

Already the reminders of how fragile life is are obvious and the meaning of the words above 'I am not sure what to do, but I know that God knows' is already very real. On Tuesday evening Pastor Steve took me to visit one of our teachers, Goretti, who is in hospital, "it will cheer her up to see you" he said. Goretti, thin and wasted, is in a 6 bedded room, no bigger than our spare bed room at home.With people sleeping on the floor under the beds as well as in them, the air is stiffling and as we arrived she was fitting. She has remained unconscious ever since. I stood feeling absolutely helpless at the desperate situation, and all i could do was pray as her sister soothed her forehead with an old damp towel and her mother moaned in disbelief.
Please do join me in prayers for her - she was such a vibrant, enthusiastic young woman, an excellent teacher and the children love her.

In the less modern versions of the passage above Paul uses the word 'perplexed' which does describe the way i am feeling at the moment. But not in despair - there are signs of life and exciting things all around me so I invite you to journey here with me for the next couple of weeks. When I can I will try and keep you filled in on what is happening. Now I am going to meet with Pastor Steve to catch up on all the developments at Rock of Joy and later this evening Gordon will arrive.... hurrah!

October 2009

2009-10-20T11:16:00.001+03:00

And on my way to Uganda again. Have just spent a frustrating 30mins in Amsterdam airport trying to log onto this blog, finally have done it and my money is about to run out - hey, ho . . . keep watching!

A Special Guest

2009-03-24T14:39:00.002+03:00

A couple of days ago I met Esther, the wife of the Prime Minister of Uganda through a mutual friend here. This morning she she accepted my invitation and came on a private visit to Rock of Joy Children's Centre - the children and staff were very excited to have such a special guest and as usual the children greeting her saying they were "Fine, smart and organised". Esther was very impressed by all the developments at the school and the stories of the support and encouragement that we recieve from schools, individuals and churches in the UK. Pastor Steve was of course thrilled to show her round and talk about all that is happening. It was lovely to end the visit with Esther praying for the school and the work of The Kabanda Trust!

Gordon has now safely arrived and we are busy with all three schools. Yesterday we took delivery of 200 mosquito nets which are going to make an important difference to the boarding house and staff at all of the schools. Tomorrow we will start to distribute them and hold some health seminars for the teachers. In Lungujja they will sell some of the nets at a very low price to the families of the children. People are already coming to ask when they will be available. The nets will make a big difference to the health of the children and their families.

Tim Smythe, a young friend from Cheltenham has also safely arrived by bicycle. He has cycled from Cairo to Nairobi to raise money for Darfur and then from Nairobi to here in Uganda to work at Rock of Joy for a month. He has become a local hero for his long bike ride as no-one here has heard of such a thing before! people keep coming to inspect the bike and to hear the stories of the journey. Tim is now well stuck in teaching English to all and sundry, children and adults alike and seems to be having a great time.

This afternoon we will take supply of 30 clocks, one for each classroom so need to return to Lungujja for that :)
Time waits for no man - or woman and they need to be paid for on delivery!

Internet access is very restricted at the moment. Please keep praying for the Health House - we would like the lady to move out by Sunday 29 March .... watch this space!

New School visit

2009-03-21T18:11:00.002+03:00

The computer access here this is very limited and very frustrating so I have given up. Today have come to a hotel in kampala and using theirs.

I have had a busy week visiting the schools - at Nansana Royal Primary there is a new head teacher, Madam Sylvia, who some people may remember as the deputy. We had a good time reviewing how things are going and already she is making some positive changes. Their chickens are finally laying the number of eggs they should be and they are saving some money from selling eggs...... hurrah at last !

On Thursday I visited the Child Care Center at Kakiri which is a new school we are supporting. Westwood First School in Leek, Staffordshire has linked with Kakiri. The headteacher Abraham greeted me wearing a stunning hat which clearly from school photographs is a permenant fixture :) I had not been to the school before and was carrying gifts of photographs and letters from the staff and children at Westwood. Abraham was very excited to recieve these and we then toured the school were he distributed the letters and photographs to the children and staff. We visited all 14 classrooms where the children politely stood and greeted me with "you are welcome our visitor, feel at home" they were then invited to tell me something about their school in English and so I learned that they have over 800 children, that their like their teachers, they enjoy learning English, they eat posho and beans for lunch. They are very proud of their school despite the fact that some of the classrooms have no windows, they sit 6 children to a bench to work and they have very few books.

Next week I am going back to deliver 80 mosquito nets to them some of whihc were paid for by money raised at Westwood First School. We are also going to provide them with a clock for each classroom and collect letters they are writing back.

My time on the computer has run out
love to all and thanks for your support. x

Fine, smart and organised !

2009-03-18T11:08:00.002+03:00

It is wonderful to be back - I am staying in Lungujja with Pastor Steve and his family. Monday morning started with a tour of the at Rock of Joy where I was proudly shown the new class rooms and concrete floors instead of soil which becomes mud when it rains. Each class stands and greets me by saying "welcome to Rock of Joy Childrens Centre - We are fine, smart and organised" - whihc they are! Smart in their new school uniforms and jumpers the Baby class were sitting at tables on small chairs and play with puzzles and threading beads. These children are tiny! and they crowded around to touch me and to be picked up smiling and shouting excitedly - I love it! They have created a new school hall from previous classrooms which means they have somewhere to sit to eat and for when it is raining. Lots of changes and exciting things going on.

The Health House to be is still occupied - the previous owners wife has agreed to go but so far no movement - the local council is involved and helping to move her but seems powerless to make it happen. This really does need resolving so please keep praying that she will actually go! <

Prayer changes things

2009-03-15T00:56:00.006+03:00

Several people have been asking for things to pray for. So if you would like to pray for the work of The Kabanda Trust , here are some pointers.

Gladys
Prayers would be much appreciated for Gladys, Pastor Steve's wife. She has been suffering from stomach pains since November and it is as yet unclear what this is. Gladys is the lynchpin of the family and it is difficult for them if she is under the weather.
Us
Last time we were there I spent most of the 2nd week in bed with bronchitis so prayers for safety, health & Gods protection as we travel & work would be much appreciated.
New School
In Oct last year Gordon & Richard(one of our trustees) visited another primary school which has 600 pupils - two school in Stoke are going to link directly with it .... next week I will be setting everything up so pray that all will run smoothly and that we will have wisdom about how to work with this school.

In terms The Kabanda Trust work in Lungujja before we go for which we would value prayers:
1) The Health House - last year we purchased a building to serve as a Health House for the school & community. It has a sitting tennant who so far has refused to move out - whilst we dont want to make anyone homeless we need this person to leave. The money for the purchase of this building was a real answer to prayer so it would be wonderful to see it freed up so that we can begin to use the building for its intended purpose and to benefit many people.
2) Please pray for Pastor Steve's as he manages a demanding role as the Pastor and as the Director of the school. As the school grows the demands of managing it take much of his time. Pray that he will have the strength & wisdom that he needs and that trustworthy and able people will stand alongside him in his ministry.
3) Building work - they are about to begin building brick classrooms rather than wooden ones. This is exciting as it is the fruition of a vision for a permenant school. The cost of the first phase of this is being paid for by a legacy we recieved and from the sale of the calendars. Pray that this goes to plan and that those working and the children are safe whilst the building work is taking place.
4) Money! Because of the current international financial crisis we are challenged by both the effects of the falling exchange rate and the rising costs in Uganda. This means that for every £100 we gave them last year we now need to find £130 just to keep our support at the same level. Pray that God will continue to graciously provide for the needs of these children.
A particular need is for people to become regular monthly givers and to stand with us in the work at Rock of Joy providing some stability in our finanaces.

5) Boarding House - pray for the safety & health of the chidlren who live in the boarding house and for wisdom for us & PS as we make decsions about its future. These are chidlren from the most needy of families several of whom have lost parents and family members from HIV/AIDs and are sufferers themselves. Also it is coming up to the Easter holidays which is always a challenging time - for some children there is no home to go to, for some the parents/carers dont turn up to collect them and for others life at home is difficult. PS ususally reports that many come back to school thinner & sick - prayers for these special children are especially needed :)
We are in a position to buy the house but the government has recently tightened up the boarding regulations and we need to understand and see how this will affect ROJ. Wisdom, understanding & sufficient money are needed + a co-operative vendor!

THANKS !!!

Heading off now :)

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It's not fair

2009-03-11T10:00:00.003+03:00

Earlier in the week I was at Belgrave Primary School in Longton, SOT, talking with J1 & 2 (year3). Sharing a very large bar of Cadbury's Dairy Milk provided an excellent illustration - the first child got 1/2 the bar & shared half with their friend who got 1/2 to share with the next who had a 1/4 to share etc... you get the idea. Eventually its so small that it cannot be shared so it ends with somebody having only 1 square of CDM :( THATS NOT FAIR they cried in unison. Life is not fair - but then who ever said it was.

The notion of fairness was not lost on them, is it fair that we have a smart brick school with carpets on the floor, more books that we can shake a stick at, comfortable chairs, everything we need to help our learning, interactive white boards (what ever happened to black boards & chalk) and a wardrobe full of clothes at home? Whilst in Uganda although they have very little they are incredibly proud of what they have. It was inspiring to see 60 young children realise how fortunate they are in comparison and eager to know what how they help make a difference for the children in Uganda; so I left them enthused and excitedly planning.

And it reminded me of how exciting it is to go out to Uganda and particularly what a joy it is to spend time in Lungujja. Now I am starting to long to see our dear friends, to catch up with everything and to meet the new children at Rock of Joy - the Baby class who will be sooooo excited to see us that they will jump up and down for joy.....
I cant wait :) Bring it on .......

Journey on

2009-03-09T22:25:00.013+03:00

But he's already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It's quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbour, be compassionate and loyal in your love, And don't take yourself too seriously— take God seriously. (Micah 6v8 The Message)
Remember good old Father Abraham? He left comfort and security because he was asked to and set out into the unknown. In short - he trusted God, God honoured him and vast numbers of people were blessed because of it. Love it! A timely reminder for me - with only one week to go before the next trip to Uganda I am struggling with the challenge of moving out of my comfort zone, so I need to hear that God honours and blesses my steps of faith and there is no choice - I must go :)

Tim Hughes sums it up in his beautiful song

God of Justice, Saviour to all
Came to rescue the weak and the poor
Came to serve and not to be served
And Jesus you have called us
Freely we've received now freely we will give
We must go, live to feed the hungry
Stand beside the broken
We must go
Stepping forward keep us from just singing
Move us into action, we must go.
To act justly everyday
Loving mercy in everyway
Walking humbly before You God
You have shown us, what You require
Freely we've received
Now freely we will give
Fill us up and send us up and send us out Lord

Have a listen...... copy and paste http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbyHtq-2sGU

Joining the Blog o sphere

2009-02-28T23:41:00.010+03:00

A number of my friends have taken up blogging recently. This made me rethink my attitude to blogging - could it be that it is a positive and pleasureable passtime ?
I usually only blog when in Uganda to serve as a record of what has happened during the visit, to share with whoever is interested in the work of The Kabanda Trust and as information for anyone who is willing to pray for us. The unreliable electricity supply and the poor quality of internet connection mean that blogging is normally not a pleasure but an exasperating excercise, which I am sure any of you who have have sat for an hour writing 6 lines (cos its slow as well) and then lost it all, will no doubt confirm !
So this spate of friends blogging and speaking moving, deep and meaningful thoughts into my life has been an eyeopener - keep it up guys.... you never know, when I can work out if I have anything useful to say I might just join you regularly in the Blogosphere : )

Nurse Gloria

2008-03-24T11:58:00.002+03:00

Praise the Lord - we have found a new nurse, a lovely lady called Gloria. She is also a trained midwife so there are plans for her to provide some family planning and antenatal clinics in the future. during the last few months 2 of the mothers of ROJ children have died apparently due to to antenatal and postnatal care which they can not afford. There is great excitment at the arrival of Nurse Gloria and Gordon is working with her to prepare the Health House - buying equipment, furniture etc and making plans for how she will work.
this afternoon we are holding a health seminar for the parents to introduce her and explain what she will do. Wonderful.......
when we first met Pastor Steven 4 years ago this week he was talkiing about the desparate need for health care here and his vision for a nurse based at ROJ to serve the needs of the chidlren adn their families - so here we are four years later - setting it up, he is thrilled at the answer to his prayers and way that Gloria has not only the nursing but also midwifery skills which are so needed. Praise the Lord .... again!!!

The Last Week

2008-03-24T11:48:00.002+03:00

Gordon, our daughter Bex & her uni friend Lucy, Ann & Keith (Trentham friends) and Jayne a teacher from Abbey Hill one of our link schools arrived safely on late on Sunday night. The ensuing week has been busy catching up at Nansana and working with Rock of Joy. Jayne spent 2 days observing and then organised us all to run a teacher training day on Thursday. We spent a wonderful afternoon with the lovely teachers and our new nurse Gloria enjoying an Elmer Story Sack and a set of activities to provide some new ideas for them. it was a brilliant time with the teachers obviously feeling quite inspired and wanting to do another one this week. In June bex and Lucy are bringing a group of uni friends several of whom are teacher trainees so Jayne is working with the teachers here looking at what help they would like and will then do some training with the students in preparation for thier visit - all very exciting for everybody.

The Easter weekend has been a rest - this afternoon we are running a health seminar for parents at ROJ but all the others have gone to see the Equator !
Easter Sunday was the wettest day we have ever experianced here - storms all day. We celebrated wtih over 2000 in the cathedral at 8:00am and then at Kingdom Gospel Church in Lungujja a joyful celebration wtih over 200 peeps and Pastor Steve preaching for an hour and a quarter - at the end it was still pouring with rain and no body wanted to go home! PS & Gladys perpared lucnch for 45 peeps so it was quite a speical meal! We enjoyed soem of the fruits of their labours from the poultry project - very tasty :)

Small children and toys

2008-03-19T11:10:00.004+03:00

From my journal:
Up at 6:30 to the sound of children arriving to school and then oh, the joy of a cold shower! Everyday this week I have complained to myself about the cold water - but am reminded that at least it is water and for this I should thank God.
Then went out to see children arriving for school - the Baby class (3-4year olds ) were absolutely delighted to see me excitedly jumping up and down and shouting "Bye muzungo" - I dont think they understand hello - then trying to touch me and hold my hand :) We have been blessed with 2 new nursery teachers who are montesorri trained who are brilliant and have changed many things. The children now sit at small tables on small chairs with their names written next to them and enjoy "activities" - a big development from before where they sat in rows and chanted letters, spelling and numbers. Justine, one of the new teachrs is with baby class this am and the children doing PE which consists of singing and moving to a variety of songs about ducks swimming, frogs jumpeing etc. Eventually i decided to leave them to it as i was too much of a distraction for her to keep 40 small children in order!

In the afternoon PSteve & I took Justine shopping for Educational Toys. Some of the children from Walton Hall Special School in Eccleshall, Staffs had donated their unwanted toys, held a toy sale and raised 150 pounds. This was the money we used..... it was a great thrill to be able to fill a whole trolley with a range of things from toy skittles to counting cards and then a number of cardboard books and stacking toys for the small children. THANK YOU WALTON HALL :)

This is why

2008-03-19T10:41:00.003+03:00

From my jounal: After supper Pastor Steve took me around the village to see how some of the children who come to the school live. It was pitch darkness, there is no electric in this area here and even if there was they couldnt afford it - i think I was quite relievied in a way as it meant i couldnt see the full horror of the way some of them live!
The first family lived in a small lean-to shack at the back of a larger wooden building where apparently they show blue movies (when they can afford electricity from a generator). The smell of alcohol on the men standing around and the stench of other things was overwhelming BUT so was the delight of the family of children from Rock of Joy and their mother that the Muzungu (white person) had come to visit their home - I feel so embarrassed when they kneel to me, all I wanted to do was cry at the situation I see and they are honouring me.... so difficult... we stayed for a while and chatted to the children then headed through the thronging candlelit village past stalls and shops with everywhere the smell of burning firewood from small "stoves" over which the women cook outside. Next we came to Denis's house. Denis is one of the boys who lives in our Boarding House - last year his mentally ill father had tried to burn their house down and had died leaving mum with a large number of children who she struggles to look after. Dennis was taken in to the BH because he was being abused and PS wanted to show me his home. In the darkness we almost tripped over a sleeping pig (interesting experiance) and walked into a goat before literally stumbling over Denis's 4 year old brother. Late at night in the complete darkness this ragged forlorn little one was sat outside on his own. I was hard not to pick him up and bring him to a place of safety. No sign of mum, no food, no light, no warmth , no affection - such a picture of sadness and despair. So, here was a such a poignant reminder for me that is for him and children like him that we do what we do and why The Kabanda Trust is so important to the future of the children at Rock of Joy school.

Baby Clothes

2008-03-19T10:29:00.002+03:00

We had a extra luggage allowance this time so asked the church members in Blurton to donate baby clothese for us to bring to give to Wakisa, a refuge for homeless pregnant teenagers. They take in girls who ahve been abused, raped and then thrown out by their families and who have nothing and they care for them and love them! When the babies are about 8 weeks old they try and rehome them or reunite them with the families - its an amazing place, Bex our younger daughter "discovered" it last year adn spent a month working with them. It has totally inspired the future direction for her. Well, the response from the church was an overwhelming outpouring of generosity in the shape of at least 5 suitcases full of baby clothes. Being the forward party for the group I brought the bigger clothes - for 1-2year olds and gave them to Gladys, Pastor Stevens wife. The joy and excitment as these were distributed to the needy families around the church was humbling - there was a constant stream of mums and dads to receive a selection of the clothes and they often insisted on kneeling to me (even more humbling). First they thanked Gladys, but she said no thank Sue and I said no thank God and his people in Blurton! So, A VERY BIG THANKYOU to EVERYBODY who gave baby clothes - it is hard to convey to you how very very special this has been for the people here and how much it shows them God's love..... tomorrow we will take the small baby clothes to Wakisa.... watch this space..

Safely arrived but no electric

2008-03-15T17:43:00.002+03:00

Staying in Lungujja with Pastor Steve, Gladys and family where sadly there is no electric until they turn the generator on at 7:30pm and it goes out at 10pm s0 only really today had access to computer.

The journey was uneventful expect for meeting some amazing irish guys at the back of the plane and excercising together! Over Ethiopia the view from the window was incredible - I was absolutely thrilled looking out inot the most beautiful sunset, i felt so blessed and priviliged to be making this journey again and be to able to see such a visible sign of Gods amazing power and glory in creation - all topped out by listening to Ludovico Einaudis music - fantastic!

The week has been great will add some highlights from my journal next time i can get here....but if you have followed me before you will have read about Edward, if not, do find it to read from a couple of years ago.... He is AMAzINg - it is hard to believe he is the same boy. His English is very good, he is fit and well (apart from a bent spine from his TB) and I love him!! Yesterday he told me "Mama Lizzie, you saved my life, you are my mother and Gordon is my father" such a change. He lieves in the boarding house with 39 other children from such desparate situations, last night i sat outside with them chatting and they ask me about my parents, when I said my mother had died I was greeted with a heart rending series of sympathetic responses as they told me about their dead, dying or ill parents, as well as those who just said "mine have gone away". It reminds me why we do all this ......

Uganda Again

2008-03-06T01:55:00.001+03:00

Well, tomorrow I am off again. Getting very excited - I am going on my own for the first week then Gordon, Bex & her uni friend Lucy, Ann & Keith Ramsey and Jayne Waller from Abbey Hill School here in Stoke will join me in a weeks time.
Thanks to KLM we have the most enormous baggage allowance & are travelling with more baby clothes than we could have imagined, these are for Wakisa, a refuge for homeless pregnant teenagers and were donated by the members of St Albans & St Barts Church in Blurton - it has been a privilige to be part of such an amazing outpouring of love - thanks to everyone there. More about this anon.
We are hoping to appoint a new School Nurse for Rock of Joy in Lungujja and get the Health House set up so i am going to spend the week there helping them to get ready for the arrival of "The Doctor" (Gordon of course) who will then sort everything out :)
Great stuff.... i will try and keep this updated but the computers do often get very frustrating - let's see how it goes.
Time for bed here... need to finish my packing.

Wednesday 28 June

2007-06-28T12:08:00.000+03:00

At Nanana today.....
The WaterAid engineers have started to install the water harvesting system - drainpipes & a storage tank to the uninitiated! The engineer came and we all signed the contract for the work with me parting with the money to allow them to go and order cement and concrete to build the tank. By lunchtime the foundations were dug ready for the constuction. By the time i leave it will be nearly done.
Great excitement - Eggs for lunch.
Their chickens have now started laying and in a packed room with the head, the director of the school, the water engineer, teachers, Topi and goodness knows how I was required to make an edict about how they would be used!! They had stored up 750 eggs ready for my coming so that i coudl tell them what to do - for goodness sake! So i said - lets have them for lunch, hence the excitment everybody had hard boiled eggs with their posho and beans and the teachers are to take some home for their families. then they will start selling. With 300 birds laying they may get over 240 eggs per day which represents 20 trays at 3,000 shilings per tray. That is equivalent to an income of 20 pounds per day and when their teachers earn aroudn 50 pounds per month will go a long way to helpig them be self sufficient.
Primary 7 are writing to the queen - she is coming to the Heads of Commonwealth govenments meeting here in November so I have promised to bring their letters to send to her. They wanted to know if she would reply, come to their school, read their letters adn where she lived. I ended up taking a lesson on the royal family!
All great fun - it was a really good day.
Also went to the British embassy to collect letter about the Trust becoming an Non Governmental Organisation.. whihc is the main reason for my trip!

Tuesday 26th

2007-06-28T11:54:00.000+03:00

Went to Sanyu Babies home today, it is just below the guesthouse on Namirimbe hill. They take in orphan and abandoned babies, they are often found left in latrines and on waste dumps. sometimes they are left at the gate. These unwanted scraps are loved and cared for at the home and are a joy to be with. I went just to check the arrangements for bex & her friend to help there in August when they are here and ended up staying 2 1/12 hours sucked in by the babies just longing to be hugged. I fell in love with Peter; they gave me a bottle and asked me to feed him, he was lying on his tummy over a big cushion, as I picked him up i realised that he was very floppy and had small deformed legs. Peter also had a full set of teeth so I enquired his age - 3years old and yet the size of a 10 month old. He is handicapped they told me - this abandoned unwanted child will always be marked out as different, will struggle to survive and may be unloved but as I fed him his eyes stared into mine and I prayed out loud "May the Lord bless you and keep you, may the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you". As i said this his face broke into a great big smile and he gurgled happily almost laughing.... I will continue to pray that the Lord will watch over him and protect him.
the dedicated staff are wonderfully caring, love & encourage the small children - an amazing place !!

In Uganda alone

2007-06-25T19:59:00.000+03:00

It is just like being at home, Uganda is cold and wet! had a good journey via Amsterdam the hairiest part of journey was drive from entebbe into kampala as they are doing something to the roads because the queens is coming in november for the heads of commonwealth governments meeting and so everywhere is being done up. The road was narrowed to a single track, it was dark and very busy and their driving does not instill confidence at the best of times, still I hung on and prayed a lot!

Today have been to the british embassy to begin the process of regisitering The Kabanda Trust as an NGO and then met up with Topi to catch up on how things are going from her point of view. This afternoon Pastor Steve came and took me too lungujja - I had a lovely time with them drinking tea and chatting whilst danny (aged 3 but claiming 5) got very cross cos he couldnt have the whole bar of dairy milk which i brought!
Going to bed now cos tired and need an early night.... oh, and there are a lot of american missionary kids staying here at the guest house so there was pizza for supper :)

Safely home

2007-04-21T20:41:00.000+03:00

Unfortunately the intermittant nature of the electricity supply has meant that it has been incredibly frustrating to try and use the internet, so I gave up! Sorry to everybody who got bored with the lack of communication and enormous thanx to all of you who prayed for us all during the visit.

Highlights:

The new buildings and developments at Rock of Joy - as well as three new classrooms they have a new "institutional stove" paid for by donations from Ash Green Primary School in Trentham. This has resulted in an enormous saving in firewood costs - last term cost was 450,000, this has been 150,000!

The boarding house now provides shelter, care and food for 29 children from the most deprived of families; this is such a challenge- it was desparately sad to see the children whose families/carers did not bother to come to pick them up for the Easter holiday when all the others had gone home .......but a delight to meet Edward again (see last years blog) who is now a cheerful, lively 12 year old who, since he has been able to attend school regularly, speaks amazingly good English. His injured back still means that he cannot stand straight but it was incredible to see him cheekily climbing the shelves where they store the children's drinking cups..... an amazing transformation! Praise the Lord!

We ran some workshops for the teachers to help them recognise and understand the importance of what they are doing and to show them how much we value their role - it is so important to encourage them - they are doing an amazing work with 300 children who would otherwise not be at school. We also worked with the teachers and the children to take part in the Joined Up campaign (www.sendafriend.com) and had a wonderful time creating "buddies" to be returned to Abbey Hill School in Stoke and then to Germany to the G8 meeting in June.

I spent a blessed time working again with the womens group I helped set up last year. It has now grown to 50 members who this year I worked with to create a banner celebrating the importance of education for them and their children. We used Proverbs 22 v 5 (teach a child the way he should go) and had a wonderful time sharing our stories and experiances. It was a joy that several of the women had recently become Christians through this group, one of whom had previously been a moslem. Gordon ran a health seminar for them and it was a pleasure to hear their enthusiam to learn and understand more about looking after themselves and their families.

At Nansana we have helped to develop plans for their chicken project, the future of their orphaned calf, a new water supply and have ordered a new set of purposed made mosquito nets for the boarding houses.

Lots more things too numerous to mention.....

And unfortunately I have returned with Shingles so will lie low for a bit to recover. Thanks for all your love, support and prayers. Till next time.... x SUE

The Kabanda Children

2007-04-18T19:24:00.000+03:00

Since the deaths of Vance Kabanda,his wife Harriet and the childrens brother, Ellie, in 2005, Paddy (12) has been a boarder at Nansana Royal Primary School, which was founded by his father, where he has been provided with free schooling. His younger sister Sandra (aged 7) was removed by a relative to an orphanage. I have been working with Topi our adminstrator to bring Sandra back from the orphanage so that the children can be reunited and for her and husband Alex to bring them up with their own4. This is a complicated business and has involved several meetings with distant family members, lawyers, pastors and managers at the orphanage. One lawyer suggested that I might adopt the children and bring them here! I would love to do so :) but pointed out that i believe it to be in the best interest of the children to brought up in uganda by people who care for them and that i am prepared to do whatever it needs to make that possilble. It was all quite emotional as I am sure you will realise !!!! Please pray that these children who have during the last two years suffered multiple losses, including being separated from each other may soon been reunited with loving family friends who want to care for them.

A trip to Masaka on Tuesday

2007-04-17T18:57:00.000+03:00

We visited Rock of Joys sister school in Masaka - a three hour drive away over "challenging" roads!! Set up by a young man who had become a Christian through Pastor Stephens teaching (they met at the village well) They do not recieve direct support from The Kabanda Trust but had two cows one paid for by donations raised by Fliss my niece at her school in Gloucester 18 months ago and another from The Kabanda Trust. Sadly, just before our visit the two cows had died from a rare infection and everybody was devastated. Milk from the cow provided a much needed supplement to the childrens diet and the income from the extra helped pay some of the teachers salaries (no more than £30 per month each). They teach the children in the most basic of conditions. Ann and I wandered round what appeared a derilict building with few desks, no floors, no anything and then stood and cried together, no words could describe how it felt to be there and yet they teach 300 children!!! Despite the appalling lack of anything and the poor conditions they work in they get very good results with the children, the parents are supportive and the lovely teahers are so enthusiatic..... it was a privilge to be with them and to spend a wonderful afternoon together.

This area has been particularly devestated by the HIV/AIDs virus. It is thought that 1 in 4 people are effected and it has resulted in a large number of children being made orphans and suffering the effects themselves. Whilst this is a rural area the poverty is most telling here and the effects of the combination of these two scurges blatant to see. They particularly asked us for support in setting up a health project with them. The nearest clinic is 7-8 miles away - an impossible distance in their terms. We hope that the Trustees of TKT will agree to a proposal to support this school and its most desparately needy children.

Catch up

2007-04-11T19:09:00.000+03:00

It has been difficult to use the computers for the last few days so here is an abbreviated version of events. Gordon, Lizzie, Ann & Keith from Trentham with Tim from Uttoxeter all arrived safely. Over the Easter weekend we all relaxed together. Some of us went the 8:00 service in the Cathedral on Sunday morning which was a wonderfully joyous blend of traditional Anglican and exuberant Ugandan. This was followed by a service at Kingdom Gospel Church where we worshipped with old friends and enjoyed the excitement of their Easter celebration – it felt like a truly wonderful day and a real celebration of the fact that JESUS IS ALIVE

Monday we relaxed with Pastor Steven his extended family and Paddy Kabanda the 12yr orphaned son of Vance our charity’s namesake. We have adopted Paddy in spirit and it was a delight to be able to spend time with him for a couple of days - I would love to bring him home, he is such a beautiful, tender child who has been through such sadness…. But, Topi our lovely administrator and her husband have asked if they came take him and his sister in to bring up with their 4 other children and we are keen to support this. Later today Topi and I are going to the office of the Attorney General to see a lawyer about this. In the meantime I am waiting to meet some of their relatives to talk about the children’s futures and how we are able to help.

Yesterday I was a Nansana meeting the guys from Wateraid to plan a new rainwater harvesting system for them – now I’m an expert on water & sanitation and in the evening we had a wonderful time with all the teachers from Rock of Joy School looking at the Joined Up campaign (Jane!!!) and how we will use it with them next week. They had some brilliantly creative ideas and it was great to be able to encourage them and to spend time together.

Today we have met up with a couple from Lizzie’s church in Bristol who may begin to support ROJ, they were called Barbara & Trevor Harrison and had been missionaries here a number of years ago – they knew Peter Mockford’s parents and remember him as a little boy!!! We were also introduced to the Archbishop of Uganda and spent a while chatting with him - Nice man…..

Another breakage and outbreak of Susans !

2007-04-06T15:43:00.000+03:00

Yesterday I met the Lungujja ladies again. The group I set up for them last year is still meeting, there were 15 from last time and 15 new ones who I didnt know. One of the ladies had been a moslem and had converted to Christianity which they were really pleased to relate to me. They were really excited to see me which was lovely, there were great whoops and screams of delight - I had to shake every bodies hand and then sit down. As i did so the chair completed collapsed - they were mortified (its because I'm a lady of traditional build ... who needs to loose weight I think!!) and i laughed uncontrollably from my position of disarray on the floor!! Winter (see last years blog) brought her new baby to see me, another one called Sue. Pastor Steven said he thought there would be an epidemic - its such an honor. Anyway, we talked to them about the importance of school for their children and asked them to complete a questionnaire about their children & their experience of school - the responses were very salutary and a reminder that we take so much for granted at home. The good news was that of the 15 ladies from last year who we had given mosquito nets, 12 had not had a bout of malaria since - amazing. We had also taught them to make paper bead necklaces (if I havent sold you one yet do ask... ) - 8 of the women were now making an income from this and previously had no source of income at all.... Praise the Lord for beadmaking. Where ever you turn there are small groups of women making paper beads! Next week we are going to make a banner together - I have brought lots of felt & resouces - it will depict their children and celebrate their opportunity for schooling.

2007-04-04T18:50:00.001+03:00

We were promised that the sanitary repairs would be completed by 2pm yesterdasy (which is so precise as to be worrying) and of couse it was not, so we are still in our temporary accomodation, hey ho, at least we have a bed, occasionally electricity and water if we are lucky.

Yesterday was spent with Pastor Steven touring the Rock of Joy School - amazing changes have taken place and the school is transformed. They have a new "cooker' which means that they no long cook over an open fire - previously their firewood bill was 450,000 shilings per term. This term it has only cost them 150, 000 which is an amazing saving for them. Thanks go to Ash Green primary school whose Harvest Festival collection funded the new cooker!

They have 3 new classrooms all fully equipped with desks benches, blackboards and book shelves, with books to go on the shelves. The nursery class (previously 60 children) has been split into two and it was a sheer delight to go into the classroom and be greeted by 30 gorgeuos little children jumping up and down in excitment to see us. They were all resplendant in their new uniforms and proudly vied with each other to show us their new school badges embroidered on their clothes. We were treated to several choruses of "we are happy to receive you welulcome" (sung to the tune of she'll be coming round the mountain) which was wonderful!

My joy at being their was tempered though to hear their sadness at the recent death of two children, one aged 5 a girl called Topi from asthma (we think) because her parents couldnt afford to take her for treatment and the other a 3 year old, Sammy, who lived next door to the school and who they had adopted although he was too young. Sammys parent had shut him outside the house everyday since he was old enough to walk whilst they went to work. He spent a lot of time wandering around the school and the children looked after him whilst Gladys, Stevens wife fed him..... so sad, they think he died of measles. There are so many difficult stories here.... it is very easy (a nd necessary) from home to concentrate on all that we need to do to keep the kabanda trust running and yet, here we become involved in the difficulties and struggles of peoples lives - it is very challgenging.

Water water everywhere (again!)

2007-04-02T20:46:00.000+03:00

Yesterday afternoon we went to Nansana Royal Primary School to a celebration and official welcoming of the new sportswear. Lots of parents sat in a tent to listen to a long round of speeches including an unexpected one from me (unexpected by me that is) there was a tour of the projects (inc 400 chickens), a drama, some singing and then kids clad in their new in sportswear paraded around and around and around.... the school. It was very hard to cope with their overwhelming gratefulness - quite embarrassing.

In Lungujja Rock of Joy school owns a small house which is half built and which they purchased through private donations before The Kabanda Trust existed. They plan to use it as an additional boarding house. The churches together in Uttoxeter have raised money to pay for the conversion. Today I went with Pastor Steven to meet an architect, to make final alterations to the plans - he is going to get a quantity surveyor to look at the revised ones and we will see him again soon to hear the proposed costs.

I also had a long meeting with Topi our adminstrator here to look at how all the projects are developing. She is a wonderful woman, so inciteful and honest, it is quite inspiring to be with her. We now have lots more things to do including to visit the office of the attorney general with some legal stuff, so we will need wisdom for the issues we need to discuss there.

Todays entetainment: bex & I are trying to conserve water and only flush the loo when absolutely necessary if you get my drift. anyway, mid afternoon I pushed the flush handle and the whole toilet, cistern, pipes, sitting bit EVERYTHING including a lot !!!!! of water came away in my hand. The lid landed on my foot which is a little sore but ok and my dress was soaked, so suddenly;y was the whole bedroom floor as the pipes were pouring water. After calling for help we went out to lungujja and when we came back our room was filled with people.... Q: how many ugandans does it take to repair a broken toilet? Ans: 1 to do the work, 2 men to discuss what he is doing, at least three housemaids to sit on the bed and say sorry a lot and a housekeeper to be busying around. We are now moved temporarily to another room for the night.... hey ho...really quite entertaining.

A new baby & sportswear

2007-04-01T20:39:00.000+03:00

We arrived safely despite the catering supplies lorry crashing into our plane in Amsterdam. The pilot declared the plane unsafe to fly and we had to wait four hours for a replacement. Finally arrived in Entebbe at 1:00am their time. Quiet day relaxing and recovering yesterday then out to Lungujja to see Pastor Steven & Gladys. We were greeted by a welcoming committee consisting largely of the family of one of my ladies from last year - I was to meet her new baby named after me (Ah!) Baby Susan was gorgeous. Another of the ladies, Stella, is now house mother to the excited 30 children who are living in the boarding house and who rushed to hold our hands and tell us about their new home. The school now has more classrooms but it was dark so the official tour must wait till tuesday - it was all very exciting to see how things have developed and changed.

Today i went to the Palm Sunday service int he cathedral on the hill behind where we are staying. Unfortunately I missed the English language service so during the sermon mussed on how strange it felt to be the only white person in a packed cathedral and then on the story of Jesus riding into Jerusalem. Then came communion and which seemed to take a similar pattern to what I am used to so I just said the prayers and creed in English whilst they spoke in their own language.

This afternoon we have been out to Nansana Royal Primary school for a celebration of their new sportswear supplied by The Kabanda Trust.... what excitment - they had gathered 100 ish parents, hired a sound system and put up a tent for everybodyto sit under. We all had to tour thje school and inspect the calf, the 400 chickens, new computer and admire the newly painted classrooms. Then after much singing, drama, speeches (including one from yours truly - completly unplanned)all the children paraded round the school several times in their new kit! they were very smart and it is easy underestimate the importance of such things when they rarely have anything new.....

It is incredibly hot here at the moment and so we returned to the guest house where we are staying feeling warn out, but with a warm glow inside having seen such enthusiam !!

By the way, I met up with Edward last night - he is looking so well and his English is much improved.... he told me he was very happy in the boarding house and feeling well. (see last years blogs)

First visit this year!!

2007-03-30T03:57:00.000+03:00

Its now 2.00am on Friday 30 March. Bex & I fly from Manchester to Amsterdam and then on to Entebbe at 6.00am and I cant sleep so am up doing a few jobs and checking in on my blog!!

Anyway, we would very much value your prayers for the next few weeks as the Thomas family will be in Uganda from 30 march - 20 April taking a small group of other interested people to work at the schools and following up on some of our projects.

At Nansana Royal Primary School we will be -
1) Developing a plan with the school & Wateraid engineers for an improved water supply
2) Recently our cow which had calved on Christmas Eve and was producing milk for the school has died (she swallowed a plastic bag). We need to resolve the issue of care for the calf & replacing the cow.
3) Our nurse has now moved on to some further training and so we will probably be interviewing and appointing a new nurse.

At Rock of Joy School with Pastor Steven we will be
1) Reviewing all the projects that we have funded including three new classrooms, computers, desks, books etc
2) Working with an architect to plan the conversion of a recently purchased building into another boarding house
4) Finalising the plans for the conversion of a garage into their new health room
5) Developing a job description for a nurse at Rock of Joy
6) Setting the ball rolling for the purchase of their minibus
7) Setting goals and planning for the future with Pastor Steven & the teachers

All of these plans are both exciting and daunting as there is a lot to do in a short time. Please pray that we will have the energy and wisdom to encourage and develop the right way forward for some of these things. Pray also for Ann, Keith & Tim who are coming to Uganda for the first time, that they will be both blessed and be a blessing to the people who they meet.

Calm after the storm

2006-08-09T18:06:00.000+03:00

It rained the mother of all storms on Sunday night and Monday morning. I lay in bed wondering about the people who we know whose homes are made of little more than mud and corregated iron, how do they cope with such an onslaught of water? For the majority of the time the sorching sun beats down with no relief. But then their homes and their lives dissolve each time it rains, their meagre shelters only provide minimal protection and yet they survive. Life here is often a matter of survival, the balance between life and death seems such a thin line, easily crossed and with no return.

By late Sunday night we were packed and ready to leave so Monday morning we headed of to Lungujja for last goodbyes. I also planned to take a few photographs of the schools new sportswear which The Kabanda Trust had paid for and which as yet is still in bags unused. A quick discussion with Pastor Steven about it and all of a sudden 200 children are crowding around him shouting, clapping and laughing with delight. He has told them about the sportswear (and the 150 pairs of pumps/plimsolls we brought with us) and that Friday will be sportsday. The children formed orderly lines and the bright new red, yellow, green and blus T-shirts were distributed. Each child held a t-shirt against himself and the excitment was tangible - their happy smiling faces thrilled by the new garments again brought tears to my eyes. It seems that something so simple can just lift their joy to another plain.

So hard to tear myself away. It feels as though this time I have made so many friends. From the lovely ladies, to Edward still smiling as he grasps my hand. Florence invites me to visit her home to say goodbye. There is bright sunlight outside and inside she proudly shows of the tiny, neat but dark home in which she brought up 10 children! Winter's small shed like dwelling is locked and empty - she has gone and Lovincer her neighbour, one of the teachers, hugs me like she will never let me go. Finally, after a tearful prayer and many goodbyes we head off up the muddy, bumpy (understatement!!) potholed track, back to life as we know it.

Malaria is a terrible disease

2006-08-09T17:27:00.000+03:00

Our last week at Nansana has been focused on Health. Each of the classes studied one of four themes - Water & Hygiene, Healthy Diet, Malaria and HIV/AIDs. Emily prepared some colouring /worksheets for each theme, she and Bex worked with 6 classes teaching songs and supporting the teachers with their work on the themes. I rewrote the popular childrens ditty about vegetables "Cauliflowers fluffy & cabbages green" to fit in with the fruit & veg available here and taught it to 2 classes. Jayne & Kate worked with the older classes on HIV/AIDs which brought a number of unexpected challenges and issues to light. Kate concernedly followed some of these up by contacting some NGO's and making introductions for the school with organisations such as Hope after Rape, (connected to Save the Children) who hopefully will come in and provide some teaching and counselling for the children.

So on Friday afternoon we sat in the shade of a large ugly fruit tree whilst the children all performed the songs, plays, morals and stories that they had learnt. It was really encouraging to see and hear what they had taken in and entertaining to listen to what they had written. "Malaria is a terrible disease, we should sleep under a treated moquito net to prevent malaria" was one of the catchy numbers, talk to me nicely and I'll hum it too you :)
As we sat a storm brewed and by two & half hours into the performance (they like to string it out with lots of singing and dancing) we rushed to the relative safety of what passes for the school hall. Wooden stake walls with a corregated iron roof give very little protection from tumultous rain and when the noise of the lashing rain on the tin became so loud that we couldnt hear ourselves think, we handed out bananas and water melon to the excitement of the children.

But that was only a rehersal for Sunday. At 2pm we dutifully arrived to lead a Health Seminar. Gordon was chilled whihc was just as well because although we had recieved frantic phone calls from Charles the headteacher to find out where we were, at 2.30 they were only just putting up the marquee (dont know how else to describe the structure) and by 3.00 some of the invited audiance of parents had arrived! Eventully we started and Gordon used the childrens wonderful performances and presentation as a basis for talking about the range of health issues. There's nothing like learning from your children. I did my Debbie McGee bit, a sort of walk on part providing entertainment and illustrations! whihc included teaching the parents to sing "The Wise Man built his house upon the rock..... and the rain came tumbling down" !! Our new friend Baker the Netman (from who we had purchased 100 mosquito nets) joined us and explained the use of the nets and helped to dispell some misapprenshions about them. It goes like this, on average a person will suffer from 5-6 bouts of malaria in a year. The treatment for this is expensive - 5000 shillings a bout meaning that they could pay out 30,000 shillings (£10) per person per year. Bearing in mind that a teacher at Nansana earns £40 a months that is a large expence. Sleeping under a treated mosquito net reduces the number of bouts they suffer to 1 or 2. A net cost 11,000 shillings (£3.70) - the maths was not lost on them!! After the show, we sold nets bought from Baker using a large donation from Woolstanton Rotary Club for 5000 shillings each (£1.60) and the schools health project will use the income this will generate for them to provide water for handwashing and medicines to treat malaria.

At the end we were presented with certificates from the schools management committee in appreciation of our work and then Gordon started again witha group of women who had many questions about Family Spacing (contraception to you and me!)

Finally we were ready to leave by about 8pm and then it rained again...... it is after all the rainy season. We caught a taxi back driven by Larry who it turns out had been an illegal immigrant in the UK and had worked in homebase! Still it meant that he was able to entertain us on the life threatening journey home through muddy swamps and lakes of dirty red water.... scarey trip, no-one seems to know the rules of the road, if indeed there are any! We counted our blessings when we returned in one piece to the guest house.

Gloria & Ronnies wedding

2006-08-08T20:02:00.000+03:00

Gloria is Stella sister. She and Ronnie were married on Saturday at Kampala Pentecostal Church which seats 2000. We arrived on time at 11 with the bride. By 11:30 there were about 50 guests and so the service began. Amazing - not time to tell it here but if you get the opportunity to go to a wedding in Uganda take it. Two hours later by the end of the service there were over 500 people present. The 'smal'l reception for 400 on the shore of Lake Victoria was wonderful..... all the parents get to say something (interesteing idea) and it was a thrill to hear them speak and to share their delight at the marriage of thier offspring who both proudly told us all that they had "kept themselves pure" and that they wanted all their friends present to know how much Jesus loved them and cared for them..... get me to tell you about it sometime.

Winters tale

2006-08-08T19:18:00.000+03:00

The Ubumama group was amazing - it was such a joy and a blessing to work with these wonderful women. We had a regular group of 30 who came for 5 days. Here time is very loose - for example 10am might mean sometime today. "Starting at 3pm" for the first session meant that by 5.30 everybody had arrived and so I was somewhat shocked to find for the last four days that if I was later than 3pm, such was the enthusiam of the group that many of them had already arrived, set out the tables and were ready complaining that the Muzungu (white person) was keeping Ugandan time!

Anyway, their stories were incredible - sad and moving tales of difficult births, of illness, of loss of their children, of unsupportive and abusive husbands, of terrible treatment at the hospitals (the nurses hit women in labour to stop them making a noise!! can you believe it?) and yet, through all the difficulties these were some of the warmest, most positive, delightful, encouraging and supportive group of women it has ever been my privilige to get to know. We had a fantastic fime sharing our stories and thinking about their issues, which ranged from malaria whilst pregnant, bad diet, poor transport to the clinics, lack of education - many didnt know how they had become pregnant the first time, fear of the delivery and others including lack of family planning. This is a major issue. Many of the women only wanted 2 or 3 children but most had 4 + with several having 8, 9 or 10 children!!! The men see it as a sign of their virility if they have large nos of kids and will not accept the use of contraceptives whilst the women fear refusing their husbands, loosing their lives in childbirth, the difficulty of delivery and having more mouths to feed on their meagre incomes.

From our story telling sessions everybody designed and embroidered a piece of fabric to symbolise their tale. The results were amazing and they were all so proud of what they achieved. Watch out for this project - I am hoping to repeat it when I come home with a group of willing women..... when Gordon had arrived this week he lead a Health Seminar which the group came to and where we tried to provide some health education to support them. Becaouse of the generosity of a local rotary club we were able to give all the lovely ladies a mosquito net - to their great delight.

Winter came to three sessions and to the health seminar. She had become pregnant last Feb aged 15 and baby Susan who came with her is now 8 months old. At the time she did not know she was pregnant and was surprised when she went into labour (!?) her parents threw her out and her 23 yr old "husband" Peter had taken her in. Now 5 months pregnant with her second child she was a lively, enthusiastic girl keen to learn how to sew, proud of her beautiful daughter and determined only to have 2 children. At the health seminar she bravely stood and asked questions about contraception and was excited to think she might be able to have some control over this. The next day she wasnt at the group! During the night Peter had beaten her up - he was angry that his "wife" had been coming to church, had been learning to sew and had been learning other things as well!! At the group we discussed at length how the women might support Winter and sadly shared their own issues that her dramatic story had brought to light. I visited Winter and she showed me her bruises, Gordon gave her some excercises to do stretch her bruised muscles and we gave her some painkillers to give her some relief. Boldly, she decided she would like to carry on sewing and I took her fabric and some threads to her house along with a mosquito net. I have never seen such thrill as hers when she recieved them. Yesterday they told me she had gone - there had been more abuse and she had left.

I cant describe how sad I have felt about this and other things they have shared with me and yet thier courage, strength and an unswerving faith in a Father God who loves them and cares about all their needs is a lesson in trust that I never expected to learn. I am thrilled that they have decided to continue to meet each week, they will start to think about what they would like a nurse to do for their children - the Kabanda Trust plans to employ a nurse in Lungujja - soon, they will continue to sew, share and support each other and who knows what they will develop.

Last night Pastor Steven and his wife Gladys came for supper at the guest house where we are staying. Gladys brought with her a beautiful woven basket a gift from the women and a letter "we cannot give you much, but we can give you to God and ask him to care for you" I was moved to tears as I am now as I write...... my sisters in Uganda are amazing, courageous women.

Standing and smiling

2006-08-02T12:52:00.000+03:00

When we arrived several weeks ago one of the most poignant and touching stories was of Edward. A child of about 7 years his deformed and narled body seemed more like that of a 70 year old. The story was that Edward has TB of the bones and probably HIV, that his father was dying of AIDs at home sleeping on the floor adn that his stepmother was not caring for him. I spoke to the Mildmay Clinic - specialising in working with people who are HIV +ve and who run a free hospice for children who are dying from AIDS. They agreed to take him and give hime end of life care if we got him tested and if his test was +ve and that was what it seemed he needed. So i arranged for him to be tested and we awaited the outcome.

Yesterday a small smiling, upright child greeted me by touching me on the arm and saying "Mama Liz" (thats my name here) I have been to the clinic I have TB." he was transformed - I told him I knew his test was negative and we hugged. His obvious joy and relief that he didnt have HIV was a delight - he was no longer stooping and dragging himself along, but more upright and so happy!! Pastor Steven was as amazed as I was at the transformation, we cannot do much to help his TB but we seem to have given him back his hope for a future and therefore his life! i have never seen such an amazing change - Praise God!! 10,000 shilllings was all it cost (3 pounds) for a test that brought such good news and gives a small child hope for the future.

I have a song to sing

2006-07-30T19:08:00.000+03:00

Woke this morning with the song "Lord you have my heart, I will search for yours" singing in my head. We headed of to Lungujja for church and Pastor Steven preached on Isaiah 6 - Here am I send me. The song absolutely fitted with what he had said so.... when he had finished (and he didnt know) having first got Gordon up to the front for a tumultous welcome, he nodded to me to join him as well. Sister, he said, do you ahve a song! So off we went.... although i have a sore throat i managed to teach them the words and the tune and it was beautiful.... their african voices are wonderful, the harmonies and sounds of their voices are moving and as the last line of the song says "we saw His glory here" - amazing. Afterwards one of the other girls on the team came and said that she had been singing it to herself all week and had wanted to teach it to the church.... it was a real blessing.

Then i helped cook lunch, sat on the floor outside in the searing heat I rolled out chapatis and chatted with the other women. A delicious lunch followed and then following long discussions on health and lots of other stuff ( we are planning a health seminar for tomorrow) we headed back to our guest house. Bex and Ems have gone back to lungujja for the night - Ems is having her hair braided whihc apparently will take 6-7hours and tomorrow she is going out with Juliette who is an Environmental health inspector, to visit latrines .... um, rather her than me and fortunately her camera does not have smellovision !!!

Its not what you know, but who you know

2006-07-29T17:09:00.001+03:00

Last night we met up with our friend Aaron. He is the Provincial Secretrary of the Church of Uganda - that means he is in charge of the running of the church and answers to the archibishop. he is also a director of the main hospital here. so he is arranging for gordon to visit and meet with a range of drs who he wants to meet. Aaron also introduced us to sue - she is the secretary to the Archbishop of Canterbury and is hear planning the next Lambeth conference. A lovely lady, we shared a nice breakfast together and she has gieven us lots of useful contacts for helping with our projects. Anyway, tomorrow we are off to lungujja to see the new door and plastered walls paid for by st marys church uttoxeter via emily and no doubt a loud and excited celebration!

by the way, I have been invited to come back next august/september to speak at a christian confernence for 1000 women. I think i may have accepted by not actually saying 'no'..... however, I have been praying about it and have in mind to bring a team of several women who can help lead a mission here. If you think you might be one of them, please pray about it and get in touch.... you will know who you are!!!

Its not what you know, but who you know

2006-07-29T17:09:00.000+03:00

Ubumama

2006-07-29T16:53:00.000+03:00

You may know that in April Gordon and I went to Chicago to an arts and health conference. at the confence i went ot a workshop sponsored by the WHO about a project which is trying to address the issues effecting maternal mortality . In sub-saharan africa 1 in 15 women die in childbirth, in the uk this figure is probably less than 1 per 2000 births. (guestimate) In Uganda last year 6000 women died giving birth. the project called ubuamama is encouraging women to talk together share their stories and together to try and address some of the local issues which effect this dreadful statistic.

So, i have brought ubumama to uganda. In lungujja Pastor Steven allowed me to speak at all the church services and to encourage women to come.... i reminded them of psalm 139 where we are told that God knows us when we are formed in our mothers wombs and so as well as each child being important, so are mothers. Genisis 3 v 16 tells us that God told women that childbirth would be painful but not that they would die.... and so we began.....on Thursday and Friday afternoon over 30 women with their children came and together we shared our stories of childbirth. From our stories we have designed and are now creating individual embroideries which celebrate the birth of our children..... a real arts for health workshop!!! I provided the materials and the wonderful women who it is a privilige to work with are sharing their stories. It is one of the most moving things i have ever done.... it is unusual for women to talk in the way they are beginging to and so we are coaxing their stories out of them, some of them so sad and difficult it is hard not to be moved. In the short term we may not be able to find solutions but my long term hope and prayer for these dear sisters is that they may continue to meet to sew, share and trust each other with both their difficult issues and their celebrations. One woman is expecting a baby any day, her 6th, so please pray for her safety and that of her child.... I will update you when we know.

Cows, chickens and computers

2006-07-29T16:34:00.000+03:00

My time in the last two weeks has been completely filled. In retrospect its hard to describe exactly what i have done but a quick summary would cover inspecting all the projects The Kabanda Trust has funded. this has involved spending a lot of time (!!!!) going over the intracies of each with both Charles the headteacher at Nanasana and Pastor Steven at Rock of Joy school run by his church. We have also started to do some forward planning and thinking rather than facing issues as they rise, hopefully this will enable us to be more organised in the future. Our discusssions have ranged from the purchase of cows and milk production (Fliss the cow who my neice funded last year by raising money at her school in gloucester and now has calf named Bell and is producing vast amounts of milk) and Ann who TKT funded earlier this year. On Tuesday we are going to buy the next cow to be housed in the impressive shed mentioned earlier......

My knowledge and expertise on broilers (chickens you feed up to sell to eat) versus layers (lay eggs .... obviously) is now second to none and the purchase of a computer for one of the schools is proving quite a challenge! They have a bench with 6 computers lined up on it which all look as though they came out of the ark. Only 1 of them is functional and as no-one in the school knows how to use it, it just sits with the others literally gathering dust. the teachers very enthusiatically explained to me how these computers could be used to teach the children to type !!! no comment........ anyway, we have just arranged for two teachers to take a computer course so that they can in turn,w ith the help of Topi our administrator here who is a computer wizz, teach the other teachers and then we have planned a programe of teaching which will introduce the children to a computer whihc actually works.... PRAISE GOD!

At the weekend we ventured to jinjja for a two day break where Gordon joined us. He and Ems then risked life and limb whitewater rafting - it was definitely a once in a life time experiance for me. The others and i went and watched at Bugugali falls a grade 4 rapid and i remembered why i was never doing it again. Although i do have to admit to an adrenalin rush as i watched my nearesst and dearest enjoying the thrill..........

Water, water everywhere......

2006-07-29T16:09:00.000+03:00

Two weeks later... thank you to all you lovely people who have been reading my blog and feeding back. Today is the first time that i have been able to access my blog to update it. this is mostly because of the vaguearies of the electricity supply here. Any time i have managed to get to an internet cafe my priority has been to keep up with the work i am doing here and not to chat... so SORRY.... if you would like to catch up do look at Bex's blog (link from mine) as she has been writing more regularly.

Anyway, just to entertain you water is also an intermitant luxury. One day last week I got up at 7 for a shower to find that the water was off. the day continued and returning to my room hot and sticky from a long hard day at school overseeing the projects and struggling to keep up with the language, i undressed (no dont think about it) and rushed enthusiastically into the shower room ( well ..... there were a few tiles on the walls) only to find i had left the tap turned on and there was water everywhere. Undaunted i turned the tap off adn proceeded to clean up a bit..... then i turned the tap back on and guess what, YES, in that 5 min the water had gone off again!!!!

so, now we have moved to other accomodation for the second part of our stay and the water supply is less intermitant but is always cold. So i am learning in all things to be grateful.... at least we have water... sometimes!

Rock of Joy

2006-07-14T19:50:00.000+03:00

It feels like its been a busy day and yet we havent done that much! This morning we all (bex, ems, jayne, kate & I) got a taxi to Lungujja to visit the Rock of Joy School. What a welcome!! Smiling, shouting, orange school uniform clad children everywhere absolutely beside themselves with excitment at our arrival. The whole site has so changed - with money donated through our Kabanda Trust by churches, schools and individuals at home they have been able to extend the school buildings and build new classrooms, put a fence around the site, and have now taken over another building next door to provide sleeping accommodation for some children

Eventually we managed to peel ourselves from the children and went into the house for excited greetings from Pastor Steven, his wife Gladys and all the friends and family- my first task as doctors wife was too run the morning clinic! The first patient was my daughter Lizzie and Amy who have bad tummy upsets - they need some antibiotics and sweet drinks with salt. Next was the sadest story of a little girl Carol aged 8 who has been left with her aunt and the aunt beats her. The poor child had the most appalling swollen infected lip whihc was clearly agony for her - a quick consultation over the phone to the real doctor and she had antibiotics and ibuprofen... such a sad sad thing and it is accepted as the norm by most people.

Then a very excited Pastor Steven showed us round - and well he might be excited. God is so blessing what they are doing - from 15 children two years ago they now have 240 children for whom they provide free school. The money some of you generous people have donated is so gratefully recieved - they have desks and benches for the children to sit at, black boards, uniforms, sportswear and text books and the teachers are so encouraged to know that people are supporting them. the excitment and enthusiam of everyone was tangible and the way they are develoing the school is amazing.

Lizzie and 10 of her friends from Bristol University Cu have been there for nearly three weeks and they have been working so hard. Recently Pastor Steven has been able to rent a building behind the school and the girls have been working to turn it into a boarding house.

Smiling faces and dust

2006-07-13T18:58:00.000+03:00

I had forgotten that one of the first things that grabs you when you arrive in Uganda are the smiling faces - everybody is so friendly and because we are white wants to try and help us or speak to us or just practice their English. The second thing I had forgotten is the dust, a rich, thick red dust that gets everywhere, consequently i have a really sore throat this evening, but hey...

I am here with four others, Bex my daughter, Emily who is 17 and studying for her A levels before going to do medicine, Jayne who is a childrens worker with north staff youth for Christ and Kate a friend of jaynes who is an actress. We arrived late last night after a long journey via Dubai and Addis Ababababa as the captain said (if he cant get it right who can?) and were all fairly exhausted. Today we headed into Kampala to get orientated, on a matatu which is a public minibus whihc should seat 12 but takes as many as they can pile in - for the equivalent of 20p you travel quite a long distance. Money changing and some lunch followed after which we all headed to Nansana Royal Primary School.

An exciting experiance for Jayne, Kate and Ems who were feeling a bit lost and disorientated as the children just won their hearts - their happy smiling faces and pure pleasure at seeing us was a real joy. We toured the building, admired the new cow shed with its concrete storage tanks for manure and urine (ummm not sure that much detail was necessary) and stood under a tree whilst the children seranaded us with a song welcoming us to their school.

Next week the work at the school starts. The girls are gonig to do a whole series of craft and teaching sessions based on noahs ark. Kate is going to do some music and singing with a couple of classes and I am going to meet with staff and head teacher to review and plan things with the trust.

We have come up the hill to a guest house for supper and emails.... so, having read my emails, I'm going for my supper! Tomorrow we are planing to visit Lungujja and have a first look at Rock of Joy school -more smiling faces no doubt!

Planes, pumps and roast magpie

2006-07-10T22:40:00.000+03:00

We fly tomorrow afternoon at 2.00pm from Birm to Dubai then an 8 hour wait (umm...) before onwards via Addis Ababa to Entebbe. Bex & Emily Wilson who is coming with us (daughter of Jules and Trish for those who know them) have just spent a happy hour cramming 140 pairs of plimsolls into a bag for the flight - an interesting experiance!

Yesterday our appreciation of wimbledon was somewhat interupted by a bird in the back of our gas fire. A call to the gas board today enlightened me that this was an emergency. Within 25 mins a the gas man called, somewhat dauntedly removed gas fire and a dead magpie!! just as well we didnt need the fire on - has anyone ever tasted roast magpie?

A New Discovery

2006-07-06T23:07:00.000+03:00

Yesterday I spent an interesting 45 mins with James from BBC Radio Stoke talking about what we have been developing in Uganda and learning how to use a digitial voice recorder which the BBC have lent me! The plan is that I am going to make an audio diary of our up and coming visit to be used on one of their programmes.... so listen for this space :)

And so the idea of blogging.... James's suggestion.... apparently means I dont have to email and I can transfer bits of my journal, recordings (if I dare share them) and photos so that you can see them! So here I am having a go. Bex has got me started and been inspired to do her own blog so have a read and get her view on it all as well!